Play Day with Friends at Random Arts

I scheduled a play day with a couple of my dear friends with Jane Powell at Random Arts in Saluda NC last Friday. Jane planned a workshop that would fit our interests, time, and budget and opened it up to a couple of other crafty ladies.


We all had a great time. Jane had offered the idea on her blog and it sounded like a great time to get away, have some fun and spend time with friends. Holly made us a delightful lunch and Andy and I shared the drive over.

We made a delightful little pyramidal box from file folder paper. Jane had cut the forms out with a template cutting machine. Wow, that piece of equipment makes short order of cutting stencils, and other forms.


We put on a layer of gesso front and back and let it dry, then we added color and surface techniques. Mine ended up looking a bit like a southwestern tepee. You can see the box to the left and it is open in the photo below.

The inside is interesting too. This would be a great way to enclose a special little gift, or make ornaments.

A really fun process, and I learned a lot about working with acrylic paints and different techniques to use.

As we worked we practiced on a scrap piece of paper and it ended up looking great as well. Jane is a terrific teacher.

We also aged a variety of stuff -- paper, fabric, corrugated paper, metals, plastic buttons, etc. We aged them with either a patina on copper or rust on iron. Some of them were really fascinating to watch as they changed. First we painted them to be either copper or iron and let them dry while we made our boxes. Jane had the sequence really planned well to keep us busy and moving along.

The practice paper is in the background. The brown rusted piece is a old piece of punch paper. The "U" was some sort of metal. The blue is a patinaed piece of felt paper. The heart shaped piece was an old shoe clip of gold toned metal. The leafy vine was paper, a plastic button, corrugated paper with one side removed, a piece of open weave hemp, a velvet leaf and two round pieces of metal were given different treatments.

What was remarkable, is that the processes were odor free and non toxic according to the labels. The results on the corrugated paper were particularly striking.

Lots of fun being away from fabric for a day. But I am ready to get back to my joy and passion. This little break with friends is just what I needed. I am beginning a new commission piece that will be challenging and fun. Will keep you posted on my progress.

Nancy